Box-fastener



(No Modem J. L. LILIENTHAL. BOX'FASTENER.'

No. 401,893. Patented Apr. 23, 1889.

NITED' STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' JOHN LEO LILIENTHAL, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

BOX-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,893, dated April23, 1889.

' Application filed December 5, 1888. Serial No. 292,727. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, JOHN LEO LILIENTHAL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at San. Francisco, in 'the county of San Francisco andState of California, have invented a new. and useful Improvement inBox-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to box-fasteners; and it consists in adevice-whereby the cover, sides, or bottom,where conjoined, shall befirmly held together and cannot beseparated by'accident or designwithout breakage of the material composing the structure.

The object of my invention is twofold: First, I provide means for firmlyconnecting the edges and the corners of boxes and analogous structures;secondly, my invention comprises means for so closing a box or analogousinclosure that if any attempt is made to open the same there will bepositive evidence of such tampering withthe package.

My device may be appropriately styled a safetyfastener, that will notonly secure the bottom, top, and side walls of a package, but also actas a detective implement, and in this latter respect be of great servicefor employment on packages during transit in bond, which requiresupervision by revenue officers. Y

The invention is hereinafter fully described, illustrated in thedrawings, and specifically. pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein like letters ofreference point out similar parts on each figure, Figure 1 representsthe blank from which the fastener is constructed. Fig. 2 represents thesame turned over to form the finished articles, the edges beingserrated. Fig. 3 represents one end of a quadrangular box, the bottomand top being connected to the end according to my invention. Fig. 4 isan enlarged view in detail of part of a box (portions being broken away)supplied with one of my fasteners. Fig. 5 shows in two views theapplication of the device for overlapping joints and the man-' nor ofreturning upward and downward portions of the opposite plates at cornersof packages.

In the drawings, A represents the fastener,

constructed of sheet metal, consisting of a vertical strip, a, havingplates a a turned over at right angles to said strip.- The terminaledges 0/ of the plates may be beveled to a knife-edge, as shown in Fig.1, orsaid edges may be serrated, as shown in Fig. 2. The plates a haveeach an orifice, a', or a slit, of, which orifices or slits on therespective plates are in alignment, one over the other. The openings a'a are for the reception of a nail 'or pin, 19, which in practice, whendriven into the package, first passes within the opening of one plate a,then through the package side or wall, as the case may be, and thenduring its progress enters within and through the opening of theopposite plate, as plainly illustrated in the drawings.

I do not confine myself to any form of openings a a". They maybecircular, oblong, or polygonal, or may consist of a series of crossedslits. I show in the drawings, in detail to Fig. 2, several forms ofopenings, any of which will be within the scope of my invention but Iprefer that they be made of that form and size relative to theconfiguration of a cross-section of the holding pin or nail 19, so

that when it is driven home it will bend andforce portions of the platebodily into the material of which the package is constructed.

From the foregoing description, in connection with the drawings, thenature, object, and operation of my invention will be readily understoodby all familiar with analogous devices. In practice the free edges a ofthe plates a are driven into two conjoined members of the package, andthen a pin, 19, is inserted through the material composing thestructure, and said pin is driven through the openings in the plates,whereby the respective parts of the package are securely clampedvertically and transversely and cannot be.

separated without forcible rupture.

In the drawings 1 representmy device as connecting the bottom and coverof a quadrangular case to its sides, but do not confine myself to theemployment thereof in any special location. It may be used to connectthe sides to the ends, and will be found very useful as a fastener fortrunks. It is preferable that the plates a shall be wider than the vertical strip a, from which they are overturned, as plainly shown in thedrawings.

The object of forming the plates of larger width than the strip whichconnects them is that they may overlie any strip, bead, dovetail,rabbet, or other joint near the edges or' corners of the structure towhich the device is applied. Another object for having the plates at oflarger area than the strip a, is that it is contemplated in someinstances to insert the plates at corners of cases and boxes, and in sodoing to leavea portion of the width of said plates outside of saidstructure, in which case such outwardly-extending part or parts, as a,can be bent over at right angles from the plane of the plate, (see Fig.5,) as a return, and additional strength thereby secured in a directionopposite both to the connecting-strip and the plates.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s

1. A fastener for boxes, consisting of a strip, at, having integraltherewith plates a, overturned in parallel planes at right angles tosaid strip, each plate provided with an opening adapted to receive afastening-pin, p, as and for the purposes indicated, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination, with the conjoining edges of the walls of a package,of plates a, inserted therein, said plates being overturned at rightangles to a strip, a, integral therewith, and secured in place by a pin,19, passing bodily into the material of the package and through openingsof said plates, substantially as described.

3. A fastener for boxes, consisting of plates at, overturned at rightangles to an integral connecting-strip, a, said plates being wider thanthe connecting-strip, each provided with slitted openings, the edges ofwhich are adapted to be forced downwardly by a pin, 19, when drivenagainst said slits, as and for the purposes indicated, substantially asdescribed.

JOHN LEO LILIENTHAL.

Witnesses:

R. E. SCHURZ, LOUIS S. HAAS.

